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Religion and Marriage in

the Era of Globalization

R.SanthoshDept. of Humanities and Social

Sciences

IIT Madras

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 The centrality of Globalizationframeor!

Globalization as ta!ing place inthe conte"t of high#latemodernity or postmodernity

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 The cultural conte"t of Globalizationis highly critical

$%lash of %i&ilization' Thesis

•

(rguments about culturalhomogenization

•

Di)erentiation

• %ultural Hybridization

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Religion and Modernity

• Secularization theory

•

 The age of Reason

• Disenchantment ith religion *Ma"

+eber,

• Modernization theory

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Secularization thesis

• -,Secularization as a di)erentiation ofthe secular sphere from religiousinstitutions and norms.

• , as a decline of religious beliefs andpractices/

• 0, marginalization of religion intopri&ate sphere

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• Resurgence of religion in the -123sand the failure of secularizationthesis

• 4e Religious Mo&ements *4RMs,

•

1#-- and increased interest in thereligious 5uestion.

•

6ost7secular society

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The Idea of late Modernity

• 8ell9s notion of post7industrialism

•  8auman9s account of :ordistproduction7based economies

becoming postmodern andconsumption7focused/

• emergence of self7consciously

;uid identities since the -1<39s byne social mo&ements/

• The crisis of rationality and reason

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• the de&elopment of =the netor! society>

•

and the emergence of =ris!= as a de?ningcharacteristic of life under conditions of=re;e"i&e modernization.>

•  In terms of political de&elopments andmilestones/ the groing hegemony ofneoliberalism in the -1239s/

• the fall of the 8erlin +all in 4o&ember-121 as an indication of a unipolar orld

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Impact of globalization in late

modernity

• Increased sense of globalconnectedness

•Deluge of ideas/ images andinformation from across the globe

• 6rocess of glocalization

• rede?ning the notions of locality andcommunity as it can be across thetime and space.

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• Heightened process of indi&iduation

• Emergence of a highly mobilecosmopolitan global citizen ithoutspeci?c attachment toethnic#religious a@liation

• %onsumption as a critical category topro&ide sense of identity/belongingness and community

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 (t the same time/

• Antological insecurity ande"istential an"iety at theindi&idual le&elB ontological

security is a security of being/ asense of con?dence and trust thatthe orld is hat it appears to be.

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• also the age *..., of the lust Candsearch for community/ in&ention of

community/ imagining community/>spurred by a percei&ed lac! of sharedmeaning and group solidarity

* ygmunt 8auman,.

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• Manuel %astells.

 in&ention of Fcommunal hea&ens= or=resistance identities> as reactionsagainst the information age/symptomatic of a ne con;ict beteen

=the 4et and the self/= beteen=netor!s of instrumentality/ poered byne information technologies= on onehand/ and =the poer of identity/anchoring people9s minds in their history/geography/ and cultures> on the other

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Recent trends in the Sociological studyof Religion

• Increasing salience of indi&idual spiritualityin the place of traditional religious

institutions

• $8elie&ing ithout belonging'

• Ethical spiritualityB real spirituality is aboutli&ing a &irtuous life/ one characterized byhelping others/ transcending one's on

sel?sh interests to see! hat is right.

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• +ide spectrum of spirituality/ rangingfrom theist to e"tra7theist

• $ Spiritual Supermarkets' this meansthat "the religious tradition, whichpreviously could be authoritativelyimposed, now has to be marketed. Itmust be sold to a clientele that isno longer constrained to buy."

Religious institutions have becomemarketing agencies and the religioustraditions consumer commodities.

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 !undamental changes in the

structural as well as culturalbasis of traditional communities

• Disruption of caste hierarchies

•

pard mobility of loer castes• Higher Education for girls and

migration to cities and the resultanteconomic independence

• %risis in the agrarian communities

• %hallenge to the patriarchal &aluesand traditional gender roles

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Rein&ention of $tradition' and $honour'by these communities

Imaginations and constructions oftraditions and core cultural &alues

+omen as the bearers of $honour' and$tradition'

eading to &iolence and use of force

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• Globalisation as spoiling the religiousand moral &alues of younger

generation

• Increasing instances of moral

policing and cultural intolerance

•  The urge to $protect our culture

under threat'

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6in! %haddy %ampaign by $6ubgoing/ loose and forard omen'

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:ear of eloping girls

and diminishing numbers• o&e ihad contro&ersy

•

%aste#!hap 6anchayats andincreasing intolerance

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hurch Set to heck Interfaith#eddings8y Dhinesh Jallungal

 THRISSRB Stung by the rising interfaith marriages/ the Thrissur(rchdiocese is set to bring in an action plan to chec! the practiceamong the members of di)erent %atholic sects in the state.

 The action plan is being formulated after the %atholic authoritiesfound that there is a signi?cant fall in the number of members in

the community.(ccording to an uno@cial sur&ey conducted by the (rchdiocese/e&eryday one of their members is marrying someone of a di)erentfaith/ hich tends to diminish the strength of the religiouscommunity. An an a&erage/ around 33 cases/ mostly omen/

marrying spouses of di)erent faith/ are being reported each year.

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Increasing interreligious andintercaste marriages are here to stay

• %ultural and structural reasonsthat cannot be escaped

• The 5uestion is ho to deal ithit in a democratic/ non7&iolent

manner ithin the frameor! ofIndian %onstitution that ensuresindi&idual liberty

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• The dynamics of marriage7 to con&ertor not7

• The patriarchal assumptions behind

•%on&ersion as a strategic#conciliatorymo&e

•

 The fundamental changes to the familystructure and impact on the negeneration ho ill simply go beyondthe con?nes of traditional religiosity

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  Studies on $odless parents and Secularhouseholds in %S by &ew Research entrefor Religion and &ublic life

• High levels of family solidarity and emotionalcloseness between parents and nonreligious

 youth, and strong ethical standards and moralvalues that had been clearly articulated as theywere imparted to the next generation.

• "Many nonreligious parents were more

coherent and passionate about their ethical principles than some of the 'religious' parentsin our study," Bengston told me. "The vastmaority appeared to live goal!lled livescharacteri#ed by moral direction and sense oflife having a purpose."

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• uc!erman9s or!/ and the or! ofother sociologists he compiles/ bac!s

this up. Lou don9t need God to begood.

• $hief among those traits foundamong children of irreligious couples%rational problem solving, personal

autonomy, independence of thought,avoidance of corporal punishment, aspirit of "&uestioning everything"

and, far above all, empathy.

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 Than! Lou